On this day: January 28

"Pride and Prejudice" is first published, Elvis makes his national TV debut, "We Are the World" is recorded, and the space shuttle Challenger breaks apart after liftoff, all on this day.

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National Portrait Gallery

1939: Irish writer William Butler Yeats, one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature, dies at the age of 73 in Menton, France. In 1923, he became the first Irishman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, with the Nobel Committee praising his "inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation." Some of Yeats' greatest works include "The Tower" and "The Winding Stair and Other Poems."

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